The Originality of the National Game of Kokpar: Semantics, Structure and Evolution
Ustemirov B.T. Tuimebayev Z.K. Aimagambetova M.M. Useinova K.R. Bliznevskiy A.Yu.
2025Siberian Federal University
Journal of Siberian Federal University - Humanities and Social Sciences
2025#18Issue 71419 - 1431 pp.
The article studies the unique heritage of the Turks – the game kokpar being a peculiar traditional kind of sports competition of nomads with its role and importance for the physical and spiritual education of modern youth. In the Kazakh language the word kokpar (or more correctly kok bori – grey wolves), denotes a traditional kind of national fighting game among the Kazakh and Kyrgyz peoples (the struggle between the riders of two groups for the carcass of a goat or sheep). This is not only a bright spectacular competition (agon), but also a unique cultural national phenomenon that has preserved the most ancient mythological and hunting beliefs of not only Kazakhs, but all Central Asian nomads. The authors examine the semantics, structural elements and evolution of this game; they offer a description of its rules and social context, embodying the national code and a fragment of the Kazakh worldview associated with the traditions and symbols of the nomadic way of life. The article also explores the processes and mechanisms of spiritual cross-fertilisation of different peoples in the process of their cultural interchange.
agon , kokpar , nomads , scientific and methodological foundations of the game , sporrules of kokpar
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Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Siberian Federal University
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026